Prof. David S. Citrin ’85 – Washington State University
“How Fast Can Semiconductors Emit Light? Exciton Polaritons in Low-Dimensional Systems”
How long does it take an electron and hole in a semiconductor to recombine and emit a photon via spontaneous emission? The ultimate speed at which semiconductors can emit light is of fundamental interest and also of great importance to make fast and efficient semiconductor light-emitting devices. It turns out that the relevant physical concept to understanding the light-emission process is the exciton polariton, i.e., the self-consistent exciton-photon modes in semiconductors where an exciton is a hydrogen-like bound state of an electron and a hole. In this talk I review my work on exciton polaritons and discuss tricks that may beat the naive “fundamental” limitations.
Megamenu Social